The Rogue Pack – Pacific Wolf Coalition

Current numbers: 2

Pack Status: Active without pack status. Designated as a pack in 2015.

The Rogue Pack lives in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Southern Oregon. The breeding male of the Rogue Pack was OR7 from the Imnaha Pack of NE Oregon. The breeding female is related to the wolves in the Minam and Snake River packs of NE Oregon. The breeding couple have had several litters of pups.

In 2014, local tracker Joe Kruezman found the tracks of OR7 and his pups. You can read his story about finding the tracks and view a photo of them here.

The first litter of pups was born in 2014 – two of the pups were photographed, but there were three pups total. July 2015 scat tests showed that there was a second litter of pups born that year. This was confirmed in August 2015, when trail cameras identified two new pups. On July 12, 2016, two new wolf pups were photographed by trail camera, confirming a new litter of Rogue Pack pups for 2016. At least two pups were confirmed for 2017 and 2018.

Although yet unconfirmed, it has been reported that OR7 and his mate may not have successfully denned and pupped in 2019. OR7 is now 11 years old (a very old man for a wolf), and his mate is likely elderly as well. Originally a black wolf, recent trail cam photos show her coat has now faded to white.

OR7 was not seen during the 2019 annual survey by state biologists, and they believe it is likely he has passed on. His mate is still present in the area with three other wolves.

A beautiful crowdsourced eulogy for OR7 was produced by Oregon Wild.

The Rogue family temporarily lost pack status in 2020, when there were only three wolves documented in the pack. Reproduction was confirmed, but no pups were documented at the end of the year, and the group was not counted as a breeding pair.

In 2021, the Rogue family regained pack status with a total of eight wolves counted in the winter survey. They produced five pups that survived to the end of the year and were counted as a breeding pair.

The collared breeding female of the Rogue Pack from 2014 to 2020 died in August 2021. She was at least nine years old, and though the exact cause of death is unclear, it was believed to be an injury from natural causes.

In 2022, the Rogue Pack produced two pups that survived to the end of the year and was counted as a breeding pair. The pack had a minimum of six wolves.

In 2023, the Rogue Pack produced at least 3 pups that survived until the end of the year and was counted as a breeding pair, with seven wolves in the pack.

The family did not appear to produce pups, and wolf activity was low in the pack territory during 2024. Two wolves were documented during the winter count, meaning they no longer qualified as a pack.

Journey/OR7

Journey_Map_March_2012 — *A map of OR-7’s journey to California, courtesy of Oregon Wild.*

OR7, also named Journey through an international naming competition run by Oregon Wild, was the first confirmed wolf in western Oregon since 1947, and the first in California since 1924. After OR7 left his pack in northeastern Oregon in September 2011, he wandered more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) through Oregon and Northern California. He is known to have spent time in California for parts of each year between 2011-2014. By 2014, OR7 had returned to the Rogue River watershed in the southern Cascade Range with a mate, where they became known as the Rogue Pack. OR7/Journey is believed to have passed on at 11 years old, an extraordinarily long lifetime for a wild wolf. But he was an extraordinary wolf!

Click on the image below to view the beautiful OR7 story map created by the Wolf OR-7 Expedition team.